Asanebo

On our list of the best special-occasion restaurants in Los Angeles.

Two brothers who helped launch Matsuhisa opened this sushi counter in 1991, and chef Tetsuya Nakao now runs the kitchen. The dining room is small and dim, with families splitting handrolls at wooden tables while regulars sit at the bar for the seven-course omakase, which opens with an egg custard topped with crab and sea urchin before moving through nigiri brushed with ponzu or ginger sauce. The restaurant held a Michelin star in 2008 and 2009.